1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to surgical instruments and, more specifically, to surgical instruments for clamping, cutting, and fastening tissue.
2. Background of Related Art
Surgical stapling instruments used for applying parallel rows of staples through compressed living tissue are well known in the art. These surgical instruments are commonly employed for closing tissue or organs prior to transection or resection, for occluding organs in thoracic and abdominal procedures, and for fastening tissue in anastomoses.
Typically, such surgical stapling instruments include an anvil assembly, a cartridge assembly for supporting an array of surgical staples, an approximation mechanism for approximating the anvil and cartridge assemblies, an alignment or guide pin assembly for capturing tissue between the cartridge and anvil assemblies and for maintaining alignment between the cartridge and anvil assemblies during approximation and firing, and a firing mechanism for ejecting the surgical staples from the cartridge assembly through tissue and into contact with the anvil.
In use, a surgeon generally initially advances the alignment pin assembly and subsequently approximates the anvil and cartridge members. In some instruments, the alignment pin is advanced when the cartridge and anvil members are approximated. Next, the surgeon can fire the instrument to place staples in tissue. Additionally, the surgeon may use the same instrument or a separate instrument to cut the tissue adjacent or between the row(s) of staples.